Learning Through Failures

Learning Through Failures
Case of Reviewing Strategy & Execution
Yamaha - Out Board Market (OBM Market)
Staff Development Unit
Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies
University of Kelaniya
© Staff Development Unit of University of Kelaniya
Authors:
D.M.R.Dissanayake
B.S.S.U.Bandara
Published by:
Staff Development Unit
Faculty of Commerce and Management
Studies
University of Kelaniya
Sri Lanka
Telephone: +94112903502
Email: [email protected]
ISBN:
978-955-4563-37-7
2
Acknowledgement
We like to use this opportunity to express our gratitude to the
Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies of
University of Kelaniya and the Coordinator of the Staff
Development Unit of the Faculty, who supported us throughout
the development of this case study. We thankful for their
aspiring guidance, invaluably constructive criticism and friendly
advice during the work. Also we sincerely grateful to them for
sharing their truthful and illuminating views on a number of
issues related to the project.
We would also like to thank everyone helped us from Yamaha,
Sri Lanka for providing necessary information to develop this
case study.
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Introduction
Associated Motorways (AMW) was founded by Cyril De Soya
in 1949 and was initially engaged in re-trading used tyres. He
initiated the concept of attaining the maximum use of Sri
Lanka's natural rubber, through home-grown manufacture, in
conceiving the idea of tyre rebuilding and the manufacture of
rubber goods. Later, the company gradually began to import
new automotives and related products through agreed tie-ups
with some of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers.
Following a period of growth, the company was listed on the
Colombo’s Stock Exchange in 1969. In 1981, the company
secured the agency for Yamaha motor-cycles, and in 1992
signed an agreement with Maruti Udyog of India. Since then,
AMW has secured distribution agreements for Yamaha marine
products, Gizmo/Effie mopeds, Renault automobiles, Eicher
commercial trucks and Piaggio auto-rickshaws. The company
also secured an authorized dealership for Suzuki automobiles in
June 2006. Since 2003, AMW has maintained its position as the
country’s leading distributor of new passenger cars. Most of the
brands represented by AMW are among the most sought after in
the domestic market. In 2005, AMW accounted for around 31%
of total passenger car registrations, of which Maruti alone made
up about 26%. In 2006, AMW’s total revenues and operating
profits amounted to LKR 8,983mn and LKR 954mn
respectively, of which approximately 65% was derived from the
sale of passenger cars. The company is also the sole distributor
for Yamaha motor-cycles and outboard-motors, Eicher heavy
vehicles and has several other manufacturing interests.
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Corporate Philosophy and Vision of AMW
In all transactions the underlying principle is mutual respect
whether it involves customers, employees, suppliers or other
stakeholders. Based on our long history and the culture that has
evolved all stakeholders have implicit trust in their transactions
with the company. It is our constant endeavor to ensure that the
trust has been carefully built over several decades is nurtured
and developed. The corporate vision of the company is going as
“To be the company of choice by providing value based
customer experiences enabled by an empowered and
engaged workforce”
AMW's core business sectors are Tyre Retreading, Automotive
sales and after-sales services, Lubricants, Batteries & Tyres and
Financial Services (Leasing, Hire Purchase).Automotive sector
includes automotive sales and after sales including tyres,
batteries, lubricants and car care products. The product range
covers motorcycle, marine and power products, three-wheelers,
passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses. Following chart
highlights the hierarchical strategic business units of AMW.
6
Sonax
x
Renualt
7
Yamaha
Pitshop
Automoll
Maruti
Suzuki
Suzuki
Eicher
Nissan
Piaggio
Car Care
Automotive
Figure 1: SBUs of AMW
Epic
maxx
bp
Castrol
Batteries
Lubricants
Figure 1: SBUs of AMW
Marathon
Dag
Epic
Good
year
Tyre
AMW
Capital
Leasing
Financial
Solutions
Currently, Associated Motorways (Pvt) Ltd represents the world
renowned principals,

Nissan Motor Co. Limited - Japan (Motor Vehicles)

Yamaha Motor Co. Limited - Japan (Motor Cycles, Marine,
Power Products)

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., MSIL- India (Motor Vehicles)

Goodyear International (Tyres)

Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles Ltd., VECVL - India (Trucks
& Busses)

Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, PVPL - India (Three Wheelers)

British Petroleum & Castrol (Petroleum Products)

Renault - France (Motor Vehicles)

Suzuki Motor Corporation, SMC - Japan (Motor Vehicles)

SONAX GmbH (Car care products)

EPIC MAXX (Automotive Batteries)
Yamaha Marine Division
YAMAHA Marine Department is a division that comes under
AMW group. It does basically sell the marine automotive
products to its target customers. Motor boats engines for
commercial market as well as pleasure market and jet sky for
pleasure market are the products which offered by AMW
YAMAHA Marine Division. The power product also comes
under the Yamaha Marine Division. The service and spare part
divisions can be treated as supported divisions in Yamaha.
Basically Yamaha generators are also sold by Yamaha marine
group. The wider market is being targeted by the Yamaha in the
commercial fishing industry in Sri Lanka. Yamaha is concerning
their target market as fishermen who have already purchased a
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boat without engine and fishermen who are willing to buy a boat
with powered engine in the future for their fishing activities.
Yamaha provides the boat engines for the above target market
with Japanese technology. The Yamaha outboard motors are the
only one engine that comes from Japan. So it has more value
and trust with its customers because country of origin is pure
Japanese. In year 2006, sales of Yamaha outboard motors
(commercial boats, water vehicles, boat packages, generators
and spare parts) accounted for 11% of AMW’s revenues and
24% of operating profits (compared with 5% and 8%
respectively in year 2005). The revenues derived amounted to
LKR 977mn (2005: LKR 258mn), nearly 300% increment
compared to year 2005. This was largely driven by tsunamirelated replacement purchases made by foreign and local nongovernmental organizations. Divisional profitability was upto
LKR 245mn in 2006 (2005: -LKR 37mn), reflecting both
absolute growth in volumes and several selling price increases.
Yamaha/AMW’s share of Sri Lanka’s outboard market is
estimated (by AMW) at around 70%, with its largest competitor
Suzuki accounting for a major proportion of the remainder.
Sales were reverting to normality and management expected the
division’s operating profits to be in the range of LKR 40mn to
LKR 55mn over the short to medium term.
Historical Story of Outboard Motor Engine (OBM)
The historical development of OBM’s is quite hidden and
untouched story at present. The idea of having a portable power
plant which could readily be attached to any small utility boat is
certainly as old as the gasoline engine itself and quite probably
even older, for we have records of pedal driven contrivances
dating back to 1864 and of an outboard steam engine which
appeared in Europe before 1900. The real gasoline outboard
motor was manufactured in America which was produced by the
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American Motor Co., of Long Island, New York. The very first
Waterman was assembled in 1905 from a Curtis Outboard motor
engine. It was fitted with a chain drive and one can imagine the
shower of water it must have thrown up.
An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting
of a self - contained unit that includes engine, gearbox
and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside
of the transom. They are the most common motorized method of
propelling small watercraft. As well as providing propulsion,
outboards provide steering control, as they are designed to pivot
over their mountings and thus control the direction of thrust.
The skeg also acts as a rudder when the engine is not running.
Compared to inboard motors, outboard motors can be easily
removed for storage or repairs. In order to eliminate the chances
of hitting bottom with an outboard motor, the motor can be titled
up to an elevated position either electronically or manually. This
helps when travelling through shallow waters where there may
be debris that could potentially damage the motor as well as
the propeller. If the electronic motor required to move the
pistons which raise or lower the engine is malfunctioning, every
outboard motor is equipped with a manual piston release which
will allow the operator to drop the motor down to its lowest
setting. Currently, basically there are two market segments in
outboard motors, viz: Commercial segment and Pleasure
segment. In this case main priority has given on commercial
segment, since finishing industry is dramatically important in
Sri Lankan economy. As per the statistic shows, the registered
OBM boat operation has increased compared with last year.
(Refer Table: 1)
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Table: 1 - Registration Details of Boats 2012.
Year
Inboard Engine
2010
2011
2012
IMUL
3,346
3,872
4,080
IDAY
1,177
1,120
890
Marine Fishing Fleet
Outboard
Traditional
Engine
(2)
OFRP MTRB
NTRB
18,770
2,680
20,165
22,890
2,960
22,630
23,160
2,340
22,800
Total
46,138
53,472
53,270
Source: Statistics Unit, Ministry of Fishery and Aquatic Resources Development
IMUL = Multiday Boats
IDAY = One day boats (3 ½ Tonners)
OFRP = Small Fibreglass Boats (15 HP – 25 HP and 40 HP OBM’s)
MTRB = Mechanized traditional boats (8 HP – 9.9 HP OBM’s)
NTRB = None mechanized traditional boats
NBSB = Beach seine Vallam
From the given details, the important figures on current scenario
are Small fibre glass boats (OFRP) and Mechanized traditional
boats (MTRB) segments, which shown 22,890 units OFRP in
2011 and 23,160 in 2012, but MTRB is shown 2011 – 2,960 and
2012 it was gone down as 2,340. The total operations of
registered boats are decreased in 2011 – 53,472 to 53,270 in
2012. As such it is necessary for particular company to offer
good product with value additions to cater into a large customer
base. When it comes to the different categories like Small
Fibreglass Boats category and Mechanized traditional boats,
their purchasing decision may vary to each other. Companies are
offering OBMS with different engine capacity levels like 8 HP
and 9.9 HP, 15 HP to 25 HP and 40 HP, which having different
target customer base to each segment. All the engine capacity
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segments are being targeted by YAMAHA and SUZUKI in Sri
Lanka, this industry is being contained different behavioural
population they are not much educated and not much
knowledgeable people, different attitudes and different thinking
patterns can be seen in customer segments in different areas.
YAMAHA Outboard Motors – Commercial Segment
The fisheries industry plays an important role in the economy of
Sri Lanka by providing livelihood for more than 2.6 million
coastal communities as well as providing more than 50% of
animal protein requirement of people in the country. The
industry can be divided in to coastal, offshore/deep sea, Inland
& Aquaculture sub sectors. Sri Lanka is still a developing
country which is located in South Asian region and majority of
people who are in coastal area, the livelihood is fishing. There
are number of traditional and modern ways and equipment are
used for fishing activities and the present condition of most of
the fishermen are using motor engine boats for fishing activities
(Outboard motors) because of its convenience and efficiency.
As such outboard motors’ commercial segment, which means
boat engines used for fishing industry, plays a vital role in Sri
Lankan economy. The total OBM’s current usage can be
quantified to 25,850 and it can be divided as small fibre glass
boat 22,890 and Mechanized traditional boats 2,960. The hose
power ranges of the commercial outboard motors are 8 HP, 9.9
HP, 15 HP, 25 HP and 40 HP. In considering outboard motors it
has few of space competitors and as such Yamaha needs to work
on it to gain the competitive advantage for this. Following table
illustrates particular companies which import and sell the OBMs
in Sri Lankan market. There are so many worldwide reputed
branded OBMs are being sold by following companies in very
competitive manner, (Refer figure 2)
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Sri Lanka Authorized Selling Companies
Brand
Associated Motorways (Pvt) Ltd.
YAMAHA
Neil Marine Limited
SUZUKI
Browns & Company PLC
PARSUN
D.V. Martenstyn Limited
MAKARA
Exploration of the Dilemma
In this era of huge and keen competition, no company can even
survive in the market place without knowing its products
strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It has to
strengthen itself against threats from the environment and
increase profits. In order to do so, the company has to conduct
regular surveys to know the customer’s opinions, needs, and
preferences. This helps the company to manufacture the product
in accordance with each customer’s expectations and desires. It
has now become more important for the customer confidence
and higher positioning of buyer perception. Thus the analysis of
causes behind decreasing Yamaha - OBM Commercial segment
is critical. Since the Sri Lankan Outboard motors segment is
dominated by several other leading players in the industry.
According to the past consecutive years of result, though the
fishing industry shows a huge improvements continuously
Yamaha highlighted a drastic reduction of OBM Commercial
segment market share.
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Table: 3 – Annual Fish Production
3. Annual Fish Production
2011
2012
Mt.
2009
293,170
385,270
417,220
Coastal Waters
Mt.
180,410
222,350
257,540
Offshore/Deep Sea Waters
Mt.
112,760
162,920
159,680
Mt.
46,560
59,560
68,950
Inland Capture Fisheries
Mt.
39,030
50,050
58,680
Aquaculture Fisheries
Mt.
3,980
5,360
6,960
Shrimp Farms
Mt.
3,550
4,150
3,310
3.3 Total Production
Mt.
339,730
444,830
486,170
3.1 Marine Sector
3.2 Inland and Aquaculture Sector
Source: Survey Department/ Statistics Unit, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development
Total national fish production in 2012 increased by 9.3 % to
486,170 metric tons driven by substantial increases in coastal
marine fishery and inland fishery. From the total production,
marine fish production grew by 8.3 % to 417,220 metric tons
mainly driven by marine coastal fishing, which grew by 15.8 %
to 257,540 metric tons. However, off shore fish production
(deep sea fishing) declined by 2 % to 159,680 metric tons.
In considering of the fishing sector drastic improvements, there
is a good possibility for OBM market as well. But the situation
of Yamaha is flattering too bad since several years by
demonstrating reduction of market share. Nevertheless the
immediate leading competitor, Suzuki figures out a continuous
improvement in the market share. In early period of time,
Yamaha/AMW’s share of Sri Lanka’s outboard market is
estimated (by AMW) at around 70%, with its largest competitor
Suzuki accounting for a major proportion of the remainder.
Sales were reverting to normality and management of Yamaha
OBM segment expected the division’s operating profits to be in
high margin over the short to medium term. But the whole
situation got distorted, by showing radical reduction of market
share in last consecutive year. Formerly it is maintaining merely
35% of market share and rest is enjoying by present market
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leader Suzuki. The main symptom behind this sweeping change
is the high extend of customer leaving rate for Yamaha OBM
which was caused by lack of experienced staff, less promotional
orientation and errors in positioning. The organizational cultural
barriers and poor management commitment are in the wake of
this origin and the foremost inherent cause at the back of this
main indication of customer exit rate is lack of strategy
orientation. Organization is giving very less attention on
customer requirements and competitive movements, it is
practising conventional culture and gives not as much of
strategic orientation which resulted plunge of market share.
The main environmental challenges (economic, political and
social) which has identified in the wake of this case scenario can
be characterized as follows;
 The kerosene price was increased by 49 % (from Rs.71/- to 106/-).
 Continuous increase in JPY Exchange rate (Jan. 1.51 to Aug
1.70). A 12.6% increase within 8 months. (From September 2012
the JPY has shown a decreasing tendency).
 CIF price increase by YMC (up to 8% on 8HP & 9.9HP models).
 Suzuki had changed its manufacturing plant to Thailand in August
2011. (Result of receiving a cost reduction in unit price).
 Price Gap between Yamaha and Suzuki has remained at
approximately 20% mostly. (April 2013 - 6 % to 14 %).
 Poor fish harvest (compared to previous years) & change in
fishing seasonality trends.
 Makara, Power Tec & Parsun which are Chinese manufactured
low priced engines with extended warranties have entered the
Commercial market.
 Mercury & Evinrude are also marketing their products
aggressively in the market.
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Performance of YAMAHA OBM in the Market
In the past years, Yamaha OBM had a good market conditions
with more than 70% market share while enjoining the leadership
of the industry. But the situation is dramatically changing since
last few year period of time. The following table illustrated the
way that market share has been reduced from year 2000 to 2012.
It emphasized that beginning with 20% market share, it has
achieved more than 70% share by 2004 and maintained the same
till year 2007. The situation has returned to bad from year 2008
and in currently company has the market share of 34% only. The
diagram below the table explains the current situation of
Yamaha OBM in the midst of other leading players with reliable
statistics.
Rest , 1%
AMW YAMAHA,
27%
SUZUKI ,
72%
Figure: 2 – Market Share in percentage (%)
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100%
50%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
YAMAHA Mkt Share 22%20%37%54%70%64%56%63%54%22%18%23%34%27%
Figure: 3 – YAMAHA Market Share from 2001 -2014
Yamaha OBM became challenger since 2009

By 2007, post Tsunami donations were completed and
hardly any demand arose from retail market till 2009.

JPY (Japanese Yen) exchange rate recorded a 30%
increase from 1.00 in 2008 to 1.30 in 2009. And as such
Yamaha CIF (Cost, Insurance & Freight) price increased
on 8HP & 9.9HP (Horse Power) models upto 8%. The
given table figures out the Price Comparison of Yamaha
Vs Suzuki in years 2008 to 2012).
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Dec - 2012
May-2012
Oct-2011
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Table 4: Price comparison of YAMAHA and SUZUKI
Model
9.9HP
SUZUKI
160,000
YAMAHA
162,000
VARIENCE
1.25%
15HP
170,000
172,000
1.18%
25HP
230,000
227,000
-1.30%
9.9HP
225,000
265,000
17.78%
15HP
245,000
280,000
14.29%
25HP
340,500
360,000
5.73%
9.9HP
230,000
309,000
34.35%
15HP
250,000
317,000
26.80%
25HP
350,500
385,000
9.84%
40HP
440,000
448,000
1.82%
9.9HP
275,000
319,000
16%
15HP
295,000
336,000
13.90%
25HP
350,000
390,000
11.43%
40HP
450,000
475,000
5.55%
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


Suzuki could meet the bulk order requirements (NGOs &
Tenders) with the extra stock (imported for Tsunami
supply) on immediate supply basis. This, in comparison
to Yamaha new import (in 2009), the price gap was
varying from 17% to 25%
Monopoly had for Yamaha 8HP changed as the Northern
market upgraded the HP category from 8HP to 9.9 &
15HP after the easing of restrictions in 2009. On
average, 8, 9.9 & 15 HPs were contributing at 80% of
the total sales of Yamaha from 2002 to 2008 and it
dropped to 58% from 2009 to 2012. (80% of which was
non retail sales) – Suzuki capitalized the 8, 9.9 & 15 HP
market.
Hence Yamaha had to concentrate on 25HP and 40HP
which had the lesser price gap Due to high repair costs
experienced for 25HP overhaul repairs, potential buyers
were discouraged in the model. Top bearing release from
Crank shaft, faster wear & tear of shaft top edge,
Carburetor assay breakage of 25HP were the main
technical fall backs of this period.
Investigation on Industry Rivalry
Analysis of competitive players in the industry is very important
to identify competitive objectives, assumptions and strategies.
The OBM market, the leading competitor is Suzuki and Makara,
Parsun, Evinrude and Mercury are remaining as competitive
partners of the industry and Yamaha is the 2nd player in OBM
segment. Considering on 5 forces impact on elaborating the
issue in this scenario (market share decline), industry rivalry is
not high, but it is at a moderate level, since OBM segment is
dominated only by few industry players. Buyers bargaining
power is at a somewhat of high extend, since Yamaha is
operating with high price to comply with quality standards, and
other players are maintaining low price than that of considering
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company. Supplier bargaining power is also at far above the
ground, for the reason that Japan is the main supplier of Yamaha
OBM. Taking into consideration on power of new entrance,
there are big barriers to entry into the market, as current target
customer segment is very keen to make changes and initial cost
is also at a high broaden.
Touching on the analysis of leading industry players, it can
figure out the competitive strengths and behavior in subsequent
illustration.
Suzuki: - Suzuki, is currently maintaining the market
leadership, it offers for the target segment on easy operation and
maintenance, so that fishermen can work done efficiently and
they can guzzle smooth operation, quick and easy start with low
maintenance needs. The strength of maintaining strong and
valuable coverage for sales and spares network witch widens
Neil Marine Branches; Dealers Sales Point is a foremost
advantage for the company. And also in-house Service Crew
Strength which at their branch level that capitalized during
mobile services is another valid point in behind competitive
advantage. Healthy stock maintenance, customer driven after
sales-service activities and added advantage of being a boat
manufacturer to promote own OBMs has become the most
critical activities align with reasons at the back of leadership.
Flexibility offered to customer in certain modification allowed
for brand OBMs and use of 2nd quality spare parts is another
main strength of Suzuki. The product advantage of Suzuki,
comparing with Yamaha can be listed as follows;
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 Unit price advantage enjoyed by Suzuki Since 2009 (upto
30% gap) and Better re-sale value and demand for Suzuki
OBM.
 Better speed on all models for both load & empty
conditions with same propeller.
 Distributor Neil Marine promotes Genuine and certain nongenuine parts which minimizes the overall cost of repair.
 Product development and regular model change (exterior)
of Suzuki is faster.
 Lesser repair costs (Low spares price and lesser number of
parts required for repair) and Easier to repair nature of
Suzuki has earned mechanics recommendation.
 Better shallow water drive position & longer tiller handle
(regional preferences).
 Neither major nor long lasting technical failures
experienced with Suzuki.
 Reparability and modifiability for older Suzuki OBMs even
with non-genuine parts. (Extended life time with minimal
cost).
Makara: - D.V. Marteinstein – Distributor of Makara has
previously held OBM dealerships for different brands. The
company is targeted commercial segment, the petrol driven
OBMs imported are converted to kerosene in locally. In terms of
price positioning, Makara enjoys 27% to 43% price advantage in
comparison with Yamaha and promoted highlighting that
Yamaha brand parts are matching for Makara products. The
company had approached for most of the private mechanics to
generate recommendations for the brand and has started creating
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sales points in some areas. (Negombo, Chilaw, Jaffna). Makara
is having carried out the initial testing; preliminary sales have
been done in some locations (Negombo, Chilaw, Mannar). But
the company has no service back-ups or spare parts stock
maintenances for OBM.
Parsun: - Browns & Company is a well-known entity in the
Marine industry specially for supplying Yanmar inboard
engines. The company having first tried “Power-Tec” Outboard
motor (Chinese brand) now they are trying to establish with
PARSUN. As the practice of Makara, Parsun is also targeted
commercial segment and the petrol driven OBMs imported are
converted to kerosene in locally. In terms of price positioning,
Parsun enjoys 27% to 33% price advantage in comparison with
Yamaha. Browns have the capacity to create easy access to the
potential customer through its already established outlets
islandwide is a good strength for Parsun. Company having
carried out the Initial testing, preliminary sales have been done
in some locations ( Negombo, Marawila, Kirinda & Chilaw) and
company has recruited a service back up anticipating for proving
the future growth potential.
Considering on OBM competitor price positioning, country of
origin differentiation and warranty terms and conditions can be
summarized into following diagram. (Refer figure 5)
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Table 5: OBM Competitor Price Positioning
YAMAHA
8HP
260,000
9.9HP
289,000
275,000
165,000
15HP
310,000
295,000
185,000
229,000
375,000
350,000
275,000
250,000
25H
P
40H
P
2str
SUZUKI
690,000
4str
475,000
450,000
550,000
4str
1,100,000
1,050,000
850,000
350,000
350,000
USA
CHINA
CHINA
1 year
6
months
6 months
900,000
4str
1,360,000
2Str
855,000
1,200,000
1,370,000
100HP
115HP – 4str
1,700,000
1,527,000
150HP
1,910,000
1,741,000
200HP
2,420,000
2,141,500
1,550,000
2,450,000
250HP
300HP
3,200,000
COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN
JAPAN
WARRANTY
PASUN
275,000
2str
60HP
75/8
0
85
MERCURY
MAKAR
A
BRAND
6 months
4,000,000
THAILAND
6 months
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Causes Behind the Case
 Strategy/Equipment problems
The Yamaha Motor Co. Limited is one of the SBUs under
AMW, and the corporate company is not giving a good attention
for Yamaha. Since Yamaha is not only the company in their
chain which is dealing with motor engine. The companies such
as, Suzuki Motor Corporation, SMC is also one of SBUs of
AMW which is playing a vital role in similar market. The
SUZUKI Neil marine is the market leader in the OBM and it has
already taken 62% market share in commercial outboard market.
YAMAHA is taken second place in Sri Lankan market by
capturing 36% of market share. Rest 2% of the market share has
gone for PARSUN of Browns and MAKARA of D. V.
Martenstyn in equal manner.
According to market share, the Cooperate Company pay high
attention to Suzuki Motor Corporation. AMW is not much
supporting to the Yamaha brand as the corporate company.
There is no sufficient attentiveness regarding the Yamaha OBM
segment among fishermen and boat owners. They only awake
on Suzuki because of the coverage and the promotion that they
have done through the corporate company. There are no
efficient awareness building programs, PR activities, sales
promotions which launches by Yamaha. Hence as corporate
company AMW is not focusing on Yamaha to implement
corporate promotional campaigns.
To come up with good promotional strategies company should
have stable point of difference (POD). Yamaha OBM has no
clear POD as such to compete with competitors. Without having
appropriate POD, Yamaha could not deliver its unique
characteristics to target market. Company doesn’t have a clear
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value proposition on their brand too. A great value proposition
is essential for any business hoping to clearly communicate to
customers why they are different, better, and worth purchasing
from. It’s especially important for small business owners
making their name in the world, because without brand
recognition, you're going to have to paint a very clear picture as
to why you are worth people's time. The problem is, many
companies just could not seem to nail down exactly what a
value proposition is and what it should say. Simply put, a value
proposition is “the promise of value to be delivered and the
belief from the customer that value will be experienced. The
company Yamaha is playing in this industry, make the promise
as high price - high quality without having clear value
proposition. Their engines are more quality than Suzuki since
they are using petrol to start engine. The engine life time is
longer than Suzuki. But they are not promoting it in properly.
Yamaha is an international brand originally manufacturing from
Japan. Yamaha outboards are known for performance,
innovation and reliability. That’s why so many boaters won’t
trust their free time to anything else. From warranty information
to owners’ manuals to fishing reports, this is where it’ll find the
information needed to make the most of ownership experience,
Anglers, Families, Sailors. They all have their own vision of a
perfect day on the water. However, those very different days are
all powered by the very same class of outboard—Yamaha’s
High thrust four strokes. Available in a range of horsepower
from T 9.9 all the way upto the beefy T 60, the company high
thrust outboards have the muscle to move heavy pontoons and
sailboats or to be kicker for a full day of fishing.
By concerning aforesaid advantages make Yamaha high thrust
outboards of the power of choice for so many fishermen. Feisty
four strokes serve up twice the thrust of comparable two strokes
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in the 2000-3000 RPM range. Dual Thrust™ propellers
(optional on T50/T60 and standard on the T25 and T9.9)
redirect exhaust flow away from the propeller, reducing
ventilation and increasing thrust up to 60% in forward and 70%
in reverse. Yamaha High Thrust outboards are compatible with
award-winning, Multi-Function Tiller Handle. Optional on all
high thrust models, this tiller handle’s ergonomic design makes
shifting easy, with less rotation needed to go from idle to wideopen throttle. This, plus a max-grip throttle handle reduces
operator fatigue, so you can spend more time on the water.
 Place/Distribution Issues
AMW Yamaha has one Showroom in J.B. Jayah Mawatha,
Colombo 10. It has been dedicated to Yamaha motor bicycle,
Yamaha generators and the Yamaha marine products. It’s 80%
of space is being dedicated to Yamaha motor bicycle and rest is
gone with generators and marine products. In the showroom
premises can be seen one 25 HP engine and one wave runner as
representing the Yamaha marine division. The showroom has a
cabin and there are three sheets for Yamaha marine and four
sheets for Yamaha motor bicycles sales people. There were two
senior sales executives who are responsible for Yamaha marine,
but recently there is only one senior sales executive who is
visiting the showroom once a month (month end. In Other
words nobody can be seen in the showroom except month end,
so during the working days inquiry handling in the showroom
should be done by back office people (sales manager, logistic
executive or sales and admin executive). The likelihood of the
missing of sales over the phone inquiries is too high in this
situation because the motor cycle people will not be accountable
for handling the Marine division inquiries.
The sales executive for down south has been recruited already
and Northern Province sales executive also recently recruited for
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the Yamaha marine division. Now all over the country sales
should be hang on by those two sales executives and the sales
manager. The company divided country according to provinces
such as eastern, western, southern and northern sales areas. The
huge area has been dedicated for one sales person and he will
accountable for handling the sales and enquiries in the dedicated
area with a support of areawise dealers. The current dealer
network regarding AMW Yamaha did spread islandwide. The
country sales are being covered by seventeen dealer networks as
per the table details in 2013 given below.
Table 6: Dealer networks of YAMAHA OBM
PROVINCE
Sales Spares Service
Northern
North East
Eastern
3
1
2
3
3
2
6
South Eastern
Southern
South Western
Western
North Western
3
2
5
1
1
4
2
4
2
3
1
1
4
Total
17
19
17
 Task/ Sales Issues
Yamaha is the second market leader in the outboard engine
market in Sri Lanka. Suzuki is the market leader and other two
main competitors are Makara and Pasun. In the past few years
the sales of the Yamaha OBM has been decreased drastically
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and the market share also gone down. The statistics are shown
as follows,
Table 7: Sales of Yamaha and Suzuki from 2000 - 2012
Year
Yamaha
Sales
Suzuki
Sales
Total
Imports
Yamaha
Market
Share
2000
217
790
1007
21.50%
2001
210
830
1040
20.20%
2002
876
1500
2376
36.90%
2003
1555
1322
2877
54.00%
2004
1577
692
2269
69.50%
2005
6053
3362
9415
64.30%
2006
2242
1795
4037
55.50%
2007
469
275
744
63.00%
2008
242
208
450
53.80%
2009
113
400
513
22.00%
2010
249
1131
1380
18.00%
2011
410
1352
1762
23.00%
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Change of sales trend of 8HP, 9.9HP & 15HP from 2009 -2012,
 8, 9.9 & 15 HPs were contributing at 80% of the total
sales of Yamaha from 2003 to 2008.
 It dropped to 58% from 2009 to 2012. (80% of which
was non retail sales).
2003 -2008
15HP
42%
9.9HP
25%
2009 to 2012
Other
20%
8HP
13%
15HP
32%
25HP
17%
40HP
3%
Other
42%
9.9H
P
14%
8HP
12%
25HP
34%
40HP
8%
Figure 4 and 5: Model contribution in % from 2003- 2008 and 2009-2012
100%
Retail Sales
50%
Special /NGO
sales
0%
8HP / 9.9HP
/15HP
25HP / 40HP
Figure 10
Figure 6: Retail Sales and Special Sales of Yamaha
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In the 2013 sales of Yamaha marine commercial OBM are as
follows.
Table 8: Sales of Yamaha in 2013
8 HP
9.9 HP
15 HP
25 HP
40 HP
Ttl
Jan
5
6
3
10
24
Feb
1
2
3
1
16
23
Mar
1
2
8
12
23
Apr
May
Jun
8
18
26
5
5
8
2
20
5
1
8
2
21
Jul
2
1
2
8
13
Aug
Sep
31
2
1
34
1
2
2
7
12
Ttl
9
16
48
40
83
196
The above table has shown the actual sales of OBM in 2013 till
September. Its total is 196 units, if forecasted the next 4th
Quarter sales it would be 60 unites the total number of sales in
2013 would be 256 units. This is very low sales volume and
market share also gone down due to this sales drop. So
continuous sales drop has been happened since last few years in
Yamaha OBMs.
 Management and Control Issues
By the late July 2008, Associated Motorways (Pvt) Ltd came
under the management of Al-Futtaim Engineering which is one
of the most progressive regional business houses headquartered
in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With the management changes,
organizational and operational control takes vital role in any
organization.
Controlling is one of the managerial functions includes with
planning, organizing, staffing and directing. It is an important
function because it assists to verify the errors of OBM and to
take the corrective action therefore that deviation from standards
are minimized and stated goals of the Yamaha are achieved in a
desired manner. Not only for detecting errors of the OBM
system but also it facilitates to set standards, measure actual
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performances and take corrective actions regarding management
issues.
The organizational control consists with the concepts of span of
control, Unity of command and hierarchical authority. When
applying to the OBM of Yamaha is having key issue of their
organizational control. The OBM organizational hierarchical
activities are deviated into two basic functions as administration
& customer support and Sales. The hierarchy is consisted with
few personnel as Sales admin Executive, Sales Logistic
Executive, Two area sales managers for Northern- Eastern and
Sales Manager. All massive tasks and operational activities are
done by aforesaid 5 staff members. Based on the lack of staff
members the operational activities are not functioning
effectively thus it is resulting to decreasing market share of
OBM since past recent 5 years.
Apart from that, every single decision was taken by top
management by limiting authorities of each person even Area
senior Sales executives. It shows as centralized decision making
process exists in OBM. This is great disadvantage for OBM
hence when doing business; sales persons are not having
sufficient authority to make decision on behalf of the sales
operations. Thus OBM can be beaten their businesses and
unsatisfied their potential customers without having sufficient
decision making authority, as an example the sales executive
have to communicate all the things that happened in the service
promotion campaign throughout the promotion is going on. He
has to give a phone call to sales manager before taking every
single decision. So the structure is limited the freedom and
creativity of the sales persons. The delay represents the negative
attitude towards OBM under Yamaha and it converts into
negative WOM regarding the company. Some rational and
impulsive decisions have to be taken on behalf of the company
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as well as the customers, but every decision should be taken
after permission of sales manager.
With the transformation of management to UAE aligned them
with the Group Automotive Division’s development strategy
and the global strategy. The transformation were happened
under the success of Al-Futtaim is attributed to proactively
managing change whilst upholding the values of integrity,
service and Social responsibility. The new management was
controlling OBM by using the global strategy without
customizing it under Sri Lankan geographical considerations. It
emerged the cultural barriers between the customer requirements
and customer behaviour. In organizational hierarchy also having
two Area Sales Executives for Northern and Eastern, but they
offer marine and power products to fisherman in same way
without observing their cultural patterns, different behaviour and
responses. Even promoting the Yamaha marine products to
fisherman should consider the language patterns, buying
behaviour patterns. Especially in Sri Lanka marine fish
production is increased since two last years. They were
promoted marine products without customizing the rules of
purchasing products, without observing buying behaviors &
lifestyles of fishermen. Basically management is not practising
the change management. Strategy, technology, processes,
culture and organization aspects need to be changed under
different geographies. The management not concerning regards
of re-engineering, restructuring and does innovations hence it
causes to drop the sales of OBM marine products unnecessarily.
In another hand there is a poor contribution of other divisions
such as HR, Finance, Service and Spare parts is very significant
factor for the OBM. The reason is that there are no sufficient
rules and regulations for recruiting personnel for organization.
Inappropriate communication or listening may fail to achieve
roles, goals, expectations which undermine sales staff
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productivity and performance, under supervising, lack of
management skills, lack of inappropriate support and lack of
accountability can be considered as poor coordination between
the supportive divisions. The top management sometimes fails
to listen to feedback, ignoring alternative viewpoints which
emerge from lower level staff. Furthermore he was providing
inappropriate direction which caused frustration and lack of
focus. The best example for poor leadership is not giving
sufficient authority to make decisions on behalf of their sales
targets. In addition to that, there is no any vision and mission
statement at least for the Yamaha, without any direction no one
can go for success especially in a business world. Overlook the
accomplishments toward goals which frustrate and lack of
accountability lead towards OBM failure.
Apart from that the lack of experienced people for responsible
positions is critical problem in OBM. For some urgent positions
management recruit trainees as their employees. There is no
effective recruitment process for hiring people to organization.
In addition, there is high employee turnover rate due to many
reasons as lack of salary scheme, higher employee fatigue, lack
of grievances handling and motivation on working environment.
The impact of recruiting trainees for urgent higher positions is
having high risk and their probation period was nearly one year.
Therefore the salary issues will be occurred due to particular
probation period and no more promotions within such period. In
selling marine & power products are not easy task while
competing with most advanced competitors thus the experience
is very much important for going straightforward. It is critical
problem of recruiting inexperienced employees for urgent
positions while keeping aforesaid all controlling problems in
OBM.
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 Human Resource Issues
People are a defining factor in a service delivery process, since a
service is inseparable from the person providing it.
Consequently, customer service training for staff has become a
top priority for many organizations today. They are the ones
who make the products and services a success along with that
they are the ones who have the strength to tarnish the product’s
image. Therefore the employees of the organization with whom
customers come into contact is very important in organizational
segment like this. Because in OBM sector, the customers are not
that much educated and knowledgeable and they are eager to
moving to competitors offers without any rational, but
emotional sentiment is very critical. And as such company’s
staff effort is more important in providing customized service to
the target segment.
There are 5 staff member working under the Yamaha Company.
Sales Manager, Logistic Manager and Sales & Administration
Executive are working as back office employees. The Northern
and the Southern Sales Executives are working in the front area.
Southern Sales executive is working as the only one senior Sales
executive of the OBM and those two Sales executives are
coming to the Showroom in the month end only. There are not
any employee working in the Showroom area in other days.
Therefore customer service at the business premises is at a very
poor quality comparing with the competitive service standards.
There were two bonus statements had been given to the
employees ending up year 2011. It was routine at April and
December. After the 2011 it reduced to 1 bonus statement only
for December. The bonus is the multiplication of 3 times of the
basic salary. Apart from that, the five employees are been given
commission based on what they have to sell end of the month.
Sales manager, logistic executive and the Sales and
Administrative executive is given commission for each engine
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what has sold by the Yamaha Company. Northern and the
Southern Sales Executives have given the commission
according to their sales. Their commission based on their own
direct sales and dealer network sales. But this commission level
is not complying with industry standards and as such employees
are not happy with the top management of the group. The Salary
allocation for each employee in Yamaha OBM sector is as
follows.
Table 9: Salary allocations of employees in Yamaha
Job Title
Basic Salary + Commission
Sales Manager
35000+ Commission
Logistic Manager
22000+ Commission
Sales And Administrative Executive
17000+ Commission
Southern Sales Senior Executive
25000+Commission
Northern Sales Executive
22000+Commission
There are no Union has been conducting and only welfare
society is conducting from participation of the 5 employees.
Most of the employees leave the organization due to the low
salary scheme. PDR for personal evaluation of the employee,
based on that evaluation the Salary, commission has been
calculating. The PDR personal evaluation method is also using
for giving promotion as well as refusal for the employees.
Considering on employee morale and satisfaction with the work
environment, it is at a very low amount, since lack of motivation
and not having stable grievances handling procedure. Taken as a
whole, this has guided to higher employee fatigue and elevated
of employee turnover rate, since workforce is not loyal to the
organizational culture and no employer branding by any means.
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Outlook of the Yamaha OBM Case Study
AMW is a highly respected company in Sri Lanka with more
than 60 years of service experience. By going through the vision
of AMW is providing value based customer experiences enabled
by an empowered and engaged workforce. Yamaha OBM is
preferred as a case study development with emphasizing the lack
of strategic influence. There are many circumstances are
happening since top to bottom level. The organizational
structural issues, poor management practices, cultural barriers
are occurred due to the transformation of management, no
strategic recruitment system, lack of skilled personnel are most
critical issues emerged on Yamaha OBM case. Apart from that,
lack of Human resources, motivational issues, low salary
scheme, unrealistic target achievements and insufficient dealer
network also identical problems. Further analyzing the case
study, all ongoing issues can be overcome by giving strategic
option rather than criticizing.

Emergent of aforesaid critical issues need to be
overcome by developing appropriate strategic options.
Hence, to prevent emphasized current issues certainly
need to develop marketing plan by highlighting specific
strategies and develop an appropriate business model to
be succeed.
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